Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires .22 WMR velocity in a 16" Barrel

Anyone know how much of the potential velocity a 16" barrel gets out of a .22 WMR?

Depends on the load (30,40,50gr,etc). IIRC, for regular 40gr, some test I saw showed about 18-19" as optimal....slightly more barrel burn time than .22lr needs. My guess is that you'd lose somewhere in the 25-100fps range over published velocity, but it probably varies more by rifle or load chosen, than by just length alone. Check "ballistics by the inch" for some testing on the topic.

Thanks for the info. Looking at the Savage rifles with a 16.25" barrel. Probably shooting suppressed most of the time so that would cut down on the expected "loud" factor from the shorter barrel. Have a bunch of the CCI 30g HPV ammo to shoot at varmints.

Hmm. Just checked the Ballistics by the Inch website. Looks to be pretty much maxed out at 16".